Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 188

Chapter 188: Release the River
“HURRY! THE RIVER HAS BEGUN TO RUN THROUGH THE GORGE! EVERYONE OUT!”

The call rang from above with near-panic in the caller’s tone. The words echoed ominously through the depths of the cavern, pressing the gravity of what was happening into the hearts of those far below the surface.

They would not last long without air, and the river’s contents were virtually endless.

Oakdown turned horrified eyes towards the mouth of the cave. The roar of water was compounded in the confined space.

“You would kill yourselves, to stop me?” He threw Anaisa to one side, out of his grip, and she hit the ground roughly. Her hands were still tied, but her face splashed in a trickle of water. She scrambled to a sitting position and glared up at Barnabas.

“I would do anything to stop you,” She promised, spitting at him.

He recoiled and she spat again. There was blood, this time, thanks to the fact that she’d bitten the inside of her cheek when she fell. Barnabas had it splattered across his face, and the murderous rage in his eyes terrified her more than the water slowly beginning to rise around them.

Inwardly, she hoped the doctor would be able to take care of the collection of injuries she was accumulating. She was sure she looked rather battered by now, but she was determined to keep Barnabas’s attention as long as she could.

The guards were quickly rushing the king up towards the exit, desperate to get him out before the river came in full force.

Barnabas began to panic as the trap closed around him.

“STOP!” He roared at the king, his voice contorting into a deep and commanding tone. King Harold’s feet were suddenly rooted to the spot, his boots creating rivulets as the water streamed past them.

“But Your Majesty! We never finished exploring the cave! We haven’t found any other exits!” One of the guards desperately pulled on the monarch’s arm, but the king didn’t budge.

The evacuating soldiers suddenly looked at each other in confusion, and at Barnabas in horror. He grinned, and moved toward the room with the jewels in it.

The water was now up to Anaisa’s ankles, and rising. The soldiers were beginning to panic, knowing that there was little chance of getting out of the mouth of the cave before they were swept downward. They had to leave, or be trapped and drowned down here as the raging river poured more ardently in from the gorge above.

“At least I won’t have to dispose of all of you,” Anaisa heard him murmur as he grabbed a lamp and raced towards Deborah’s fake stones. Doubtless he thought the well-hidden exit in that room was still there. Idly, she wondered how many jewels he thought he could fit into his pockets before he escaped.

As soon as Barnabas was fully within the secondary chamber, Trace leapt out from the guards’ formation with two others and jammed their spears into the wall, prying loose a few strategic stones that held back a small avalanche of boulders.

“Wait, where is the–” Oakdown turned around just as the rocks were sliding into place. The sound of the water was suddenly all but gone as Trace’s mother stopped amplifying it, and turned to dampen the sound of the Count’s voice before he could give any more commands.

“GET ME OUT!” The muffled tones rang through just before the last boulder cut him off from them.

Everyone tensed. Who had the command been directed at?

The soldier to Trace’s right made a groaning sound.

“Please hold me back,” He grimaced, before taking a lurching step towards the rockfall.

Anaisa had no time to deal with that.

“Knock out the king and carry him to the surface,” She told the men behind her. “Get him miles away, take him back to the city. The hold will break on him when you’re far enough.”

Her jaw was sore, and talking hurt.

The guards hesitated, but the king nodded, once, giving his consent to the ill treatment. Finally, one of them came from behind and hit the king’s head hard enough to end the man’s resistance to his guards’ pull.

The monarch went limp, and the two guards nearest abandoned their spears to put his arms around their shoulders and haul him upward as quickly as they could.

The water around them, which had grown to a steady rush, was now slowing to a trickle once more.

“What is happening?” Sanders seemed baffled by the developments.

Because they hadn’t told him, and he couldn’t see nonmagical events.

“The firefighting team just dumped several wagonloads of water into the cave entrance,” Anaisa grinned, despite the pain. “The storm to the North was a distraction, it should be staying over the dry farmland and not engorging the river.”

Sanders blinked several times and looked down at his feet, some panic subsiding from his face.

“That was diabolical… I thought for a moment we would die, but… of course, I did see the extra exit that was magically made down below. It would have been a huge risk to flood the cave and hope we could all make it in time. I was terrified.” He smiled shakily and came over to untie her hands. “Well done, Anaisa.”

“It was mostly Trace’s plan,” She said, looking to her husband for the first time since sending the king to the surface. “Oh–!”

The second soldier with her husband was desperately pulling at the stones guarding the room’s entrance. And he was supernaturally strong.

Trace and the first soldier were futilely trying to hold him back. Every time they got a grip on him, he threw them off and continued pulling at the boulders, working to free Barnabas.

“No!” Anaisa screamed, running to join them. “Help! Help us pull him back!”

As long as Barnabas was trapped, no one could hear him. No one could be commanded. They could even potentially wait for him to starve to death, cruel as that was.

She knew he deserved worse.

But if he got out, all their planning would be in vain.